Project Vengeance
by Ryan M Prower
Summary: After the death of Cosmo and the drained energy of the chaos emeralds, a dark force senses it's time to strike into the hearts and minds of Team Sonic, but more specifically, Tails. Will Tails succumb to the temptation the voices offer, will he stop at nothing to kill the people responsible and make a war that will change the universe like never before?
1. Faltering Dominoes

"Tails, I…I'm so sorry." Sonic's voice was full of remorse and sadness as he started to talk to his best friend, whom was still slouched at the bottom of the brigde. Everyone else in the room looked at Tails, non-respondent for some time. All he did was stare out into space where Cosmo once was, the planet eggs and anything that illuminated this part of lonely black space was gone.

"T-Tails…?" Cream tried to get a response but no use.  
"I don't think we just lost two friends today guys…" Thorndike commented, proceeding with trying to get the ship home in one piece. While most of the others stood there watching Tails, Sonic kneeled in front of his little brother so that their eyes could be the same height. "Tails, buddy, c'mon, snap out of it," Sonic said calmly as he shook him. Meanwhile, an internal war was raging inside Tails.

His heart destroyed and shattered into a million pieces made it hard for him to breathe as parts clogged his airway. Guilt of being the one to end her life engulfed him, blocking all senses with just pure blackness and his repeated wheezing "My fault, all my fault." Sanity fought alone, happiness and optimism had long ago died in this battle, but nothing could have stopped it. Insanity spread through Tails like wildfire," I'm going to kill t-"

"TAILS!" Sonic was shaking Tails like a rag doll by now," SNAP OUT OF IT!"  
Tails inhaled deeply, showing the first of any type of response. He looked around, at first confused of where he was, but slowly he started to remember that he was in the Blue Typhoon. "Whoa, what's up with you?" Tails answered in an unnaturally playful way. "Where's Cosmo anyways?"

"Um, Tails… she…-"  
"Didn't make it," Knuckles finished the sentence for Sonic.

Tails kept smiling and starring at them. An awkward silence followed until Tails finally broke it. "No, seriously guys, where is she? She's hiding somewhere, isn't she?"  
"Tails, quit it!" Amy screamed with tears running down her eyes. "She's gone Tails! She's… dead."  
Tails began to laugh hysterically. "C'mon guys, I'm not fooling around. Did she go hide somewhere on the ship?"  
"Sonic, he's in denial," Amy looked at him worried.  
"I know… but what can we do?"

"Ooooh Taaailsss, Taaaailsss. Does your moronic brain not comprehend, not understand? She's dead, and it's all your fault."  
"No… that can't be. She's still here, I know it! She's i-"  
"Your! Fault!"  
"No! Stop! It's not true, she's here!"  
"You stupid, pathetic fool! Her life was taken by YOUR hands! It's your entire fault, Tails, and now there's nothing you can do about it."  
"SHUT UP! I KNOW SHE'S HERE, she's –

Tails vomited all over the floor. He regained sense of where he was, in the Typhoon's hallways. He grabbed the walls for support, slowly starting to feel weak and unable to take another step. Nonetheless, he continued to walk, but not five steps later did he throw up another load. "Cosmo…"

Knuckles stared out in space, seeing the planet Greengate slowly disappear from the horizon. "So the guy's in denial. What do we do? What CAN we do?"  
"We can try to make him face it," Amy suggested. "It'll break him, but if that's what we have to do…"  
"I'm not really sure either. I think we should just let him be, he'll come to realize she's gone, right?" Thorndike called out from his seat.  
"I don't know, I just don't know." Sonic stood in the middle of the brig with his eyes shut, thinking of what to do. Minutes passed but not a single suggestion came to mind. He gave a loud sigh and turned around to the others," He's going to be back to normal eventually, will he?"  
Amy looked at Sonic and shook her head. "We can try, but not after this."  
"Hey guys, come look at this! I'm getting some pretty weird radio frequencies. I can't seem to exactly trace from where they're coming from but it looks like they're coming from," Thorndike eyes shot wide open.  
"From where!?" Amy shouted at him from across the room.  
"From inside the ship…"  
"What's it saying?" Sonic called out from where he stood.  
"Hear for yourself." Thorndike tapped some commands on the console until the speakers crackled to life.

"Sunshiiine, my only sunshiiine –statsic- it makes me happy is that you are deeead –static- you'll never know dear, how much I love you, so please, take my sunshine awa-static- ." Sonic and the team's hair stood on end as the call ended with the demoniac's voice laughing.  
"What the hell was that?" Knuckles asked in a hoarse voice.  
"I don't know, but that was too cruel!" Amy shouted," I bet someone down there-"  
"The call came from within the ship, Amy," Thorndike reminded her," And the systems haven't picked up anything inside… it's like whatever it was is inside the system!"  
Sonic, Amy, and Knuckles were bewildered. "I don't know Sonic, something isn't right here," Knuckles commented. "I'm sensing some pretty dark energy here, and it's only intensifying by the minute."

"It's all your fault. You stupid little boy, look at how pathetic you are. Not only could you not save the girl of your dreams, but you also keep denying the fact that YOU killed her."  
"Shut up! Shut up! It wasn't me, it wasn't me! She's still alive, she's-"  
"Repeating it over and over again won't bring her back. All your fault, all your fault!" the distortional voice mocked Tails, always ending his sentences with a small laugh. "But you know what you have to do…"  
"What is it?"  
"Kill. Kill for her death. Kill all that stand in your way and kill the people that changed their people. Kill, kill, kill! Make the river of blood run throughout the galaxy! Kill all!" a different voice called out.  
"No, she wouldn't want that…"  
"You're right. She would've wanted to stay alive, now you've killed her. The only way to balance it out, is to destroy the ones that led to this."  
"The meterex are dead! There's no one to kill except… myself…"  
"No you fool! There was a force that led the male seedrians to become the meterex!"  
"She would have wanted peace! She… she wants peace. Who are you! Get out of my head!"  
"Who are we?" the two voices said in unison. "We're you."  
"Tails, please, don't do it! This isn't you, they're not you!" a panicked voice cried out.  
"Cosmo…?"

"This doesn't make any sense! Tails was sleeping when that transmission came in, it couldn't be him. Security systems hadn't picked up anyone, not an intruder, not anyone!" Thorndike recollected.  
"Are you sure the message came from inside the Typhoon? Did you check nothing is wrong with the system thingy?" Sonic asked, hoping that Thorndike would have been mistaken. A creepy, eerie feeling fell upon the occupants of the ship, they all felt a dark presence watching them.  
"Amy, AMY!" Cream ran to said hedgehog with tears streaming from her eyes.  
"What is it Cream?"  
"I-I hear w-whispering, listen!" Everyone stood in absolute silence, trying to hear the whispering Cream was talking about. Nothing but the occasional creak and tapping from the ship's haul was heard. "It's out to get us; it's out to get everyone. Amy, he's telling me awful things, he's going to kill us all. Amy, please, can't you hear him!" Cream gripped Amy's leg with all the force she could.  
"Cream, I think its best you go to sleep, okay? I'll sleep with you if you're too afraid." Amy was uneasy from the stacking factors, but she still looked at Cream calmly so she would reassure that nothing was wrong.  
Cream nodded in response to Amy's offer. "Call me through the intercom if you need me," Amy whispered loadly to the group as she left for Cream's quarters.  
"That was pretty fucking creepy, don't yah think," Thorndike chuckled uneasily. "Those kids could have such an imagination!"  
"We all know something isn't right here, Chris. I don't know though, it's just… weird."  
"I was just trying to lighten the mood a bit. And everything says nothing has infiltrated the ship! It's probably just our imagination!"  
"I don't think so," Knuckles interjected," My senses are never wrong, there's dark energy somewhere around here. The strange part about it though, is that it feels like it's everywhere."  
"Well you don't have to worry! Team Chaotix is here to investigate!" Vector shouted out. "We'll check stuff out and see if anything is wrong!"  
"Hey, big mouth, I don't know about you, but I'm getting the creeps here too. If you're going to go check on things, I'm staying right here," Charmy whispered to Vector.  
"Nonsense! Everything's alright here, Espio, you coming?"  
"Sure why not. Might as well do something about this than just stand around."  
"So where should we start!?" Vector said enthusiastically. As if on cue, a loud scream came from the halls.  
"Amy!" Sonic recognized the voice. He sped off, running towards her direction.

"It's alright Cream, everything's going to be alright," Amy covered Cream's eyes with her chest, clutching her as close to her as she could.  
"Amy, what's wrong!" Once Sonic made it to where the two girls were, even he had to flinch and gag at the foul stench of dead that assaulted his nose. When he looked back, he could see streaks of blood on the walls and floor. On the far wall, handwriting of a shaky hand spelled a name that covered the wall," Cosmo."  
Sonic grabbed Amy and pulled both of them together, leading them back to the bridge. Everyone one caught up just around the corner of the scene. "Don't go in there, it's horrible…" Knuckles ignored what Sonic said and continued anyways," No, don't! There's blood everywhere, there's-"  
"nothing here," Knuckles finished for Sonic. "If this is a prank, it's not funny, especially from what's hap-" Knuckles saw in the corner of his eye something looking at him from the turn of the hallway. The figure seemed to have noticed that it had been spotted and turned to hide and escape its witness. "Hey, how did you get on this ship! I'm talking to you, get back here!" Nothing came back so Knuckles started to run after it. Sonic peaked over the corner expected to see the horrid sight but nothing was there and the smell had disappeared. He began to walk to Knuckles' direction until he heard a him scream. Again Sonic ran to the cause of the noise. He found Knuckles slumped against the wall, having a crooked smile on his face as he stared aimlessly at the roof with eyes full of madness. As Sonic got closer, Knuckles giggled. He abruptly stopped and quickly turned to Sonic," His pain is our pain. His pain will become everyone's pain. It will consume the world." His voice was hoarse and ended his sentence will a wheezing laugh. "Can you feel the sunshine…?"

Tails couldn't sleep, the scene of him shooting at Cosmo played in his mind over and over again. No tears came to his face, he felt nothing; he felt like a complete shell. "Did I ever get to tell her that I loved her…" Tails asked the darkness in a voice that would give anyone pity to the young kitsune. "Did she kiss me or was it all just a hallucination?" Tails began to sit up, something wasn't right. Apart from the gloominess, he sensed another strange feeling in the atmosphere. He began to walk to the bridge and see if everyone was alright. The automated doors opened as he walked towards it and started to head down the hallway when he heard his name called.  
"Tails!"  
"C-Cosmo…? Tails looked back and saw Cosmo looking back at him with a worried face.  
"Tails, I don't have much time. Don't do what the voices-"  
"Cosmo, I thought you were dead… oh Cosmo!" He began running to her. All life restored back to him and his heart fluttered back to life.  
"Wait, no! Tails, don't listen to the voices! I'm so sorry Tails," was all she said as Tails was about to grasp her in his arms. As he did, she vanished in a light, white smoke.  
"Cosmo…" As fast as hope filled him, it disappeared. His heart died, his mind went blank. His heart string was pulled and torn; his bones felt weak and his muscles gave out. He fell to his knees, slumping. "Cosmo… I-" Tails began to fall forward. Time seemed to slow down as he noticed his surroundings change. The room became dark and streaks of red illuminated the room, as if the blood itself contained the faltering light of life within them. Tails looked ahead, Sonic was mangled, but he still came at him at an incredible pace as he got near. "I love you," he whispered out with his last breathe and Sonic's face twisted into madness and his eyes became black.  
"You can scream all you want, but no one will come. Everyone will be asleep. Everyone will dream with their nightmares…"

"Doctor Eggman-sama," Bocoe called out to his master. "We're getting a S.O.S radio transmission from the Blue Typhoon."  
"Bah, they're just trying to find others out there that will be willing to give both of us power. We should also do so but even we don't have enough power to send a broadcast out…"  
"Should we shut everything else down? At this rate, we're not even going to be able to make it back home!" Decoe interrupted Eggman.  
"Right, shut down anything that needs a power supply except the engines and life support systems on this room. Recheck anything we might have missed that has batteries!"  
"Aye aye, sir!" the two robots said in unison.  
"I don't know, I have a bad feeling. Something is near, it's making me feel queasy," Bokkun commented.  
"Be quiet and get on to it right now. Or do you want me to dissemble you and use your battery as a means to get back!?"  
"Sorry Eggman-sama, right on it!" the little robot flew away in a panic, hoping Eggman would not follow through with his threats.  
"But nonetheless, at least I'm not the only one who feels this way," Eggman mumbled to himself. "I've been around power so long that I know when I sense a dark one amongst us… Bocoe, use your torch to open a doorway to the Blue Typhoon, as to save power and a means to communicate with Sonic and his team."  
"I have no fuel to be able to use it sir, sorry."  
"Drat, then send a small message to the Blue Typhoon and see if they are alright," Eggman said with concern in his voice," Because I'm starting to believe it's not just an energy problem they're having problems with…"

I will consume everything that is dear to you. I wills swallow you whole in your dreams. I will break you and you will be my puppet. Sweet dreams Team Sonic.


	2. Recollected Game Pieces

"But Eggman, if we try to boost the signal any harder, the ship might lose whatever power it has left!" the little purple robot reported to his master. Eggman was uneasy; his call to the Typhoon had not been answered for more than two days. And to add to the worry, everything but the engines of the Typhoon were left turned on.  
"Then change it back to how we started off, all we can do now is wait." Eggman stopped leaning forward and tried to relax on his chair. Something wasn't right, he thought. This energy, I feel like I've felt it before yet I can't seem to grasp what it is. Eggman sighed and looked at his robots, who reflected an unsure face.

The crew of the Typhoon had no idea that Eggman was trying to contact them. Knuckles was able to get out of his nightmare and wondered the pitch black hallways. He was shaking uncontrollably, having to see the massacre of his clan over and over again by different forces, him being the last to be finished off as he felt every nerve in his body scream in pain. But nonetheless, he tried his best not to make any noise, in fear that any of the monsters he had seen would be somewhere in the darkness. He could hear a whimpering somewhere ahead, nearly bumping his head on the ceiling. _Should I go see who it is, or should I turn back and believe I never heard it_. Knuckles sighed and continued on, as he got close he realized the whimpering was coming from Amy.  
"Pst, Amy," Knuckles whispered to her almost inaudibly.  
"No, no, it can't be happening. Just stay away, please, I don't want to… momma, please I… help me."  
Knuckles came closer, trying to make contact with Amy, who seemed to be in hysteria from the way she was breathing heavily upon every phrase she said. He set his hand on Amy's shoulder lightly," Amy, it's m-"  
"Oh god, NO! Get away from me, not again, please! Not my throat, not my throat!"  
"Amy!" came a voice echoing through the halls. Sonic wasn't able to see Knuckles and tumbled on him.  
"What are you!? Tell me your name!" Knuckles yelled out to Sonic, panicking and scuttling away from whatever attacked him.  
"Knuckles, is that you?"  
"What are you and how do you know my name!?"  
"Whoa, Knucks, chill out man; it's me, Sonic."  
" God dammit, you almost made my heart stop. Do you have ANY idea what's going on?"  
"Not at all, I've been walking the halls trying to find any of you. I just came from this way and no one was here."  
"Well clearly you can see in the dark then," Knuckles retorted as he began to stroke his side where Sonic had tripped on him.  
"Amy, are you alright?" Sonic started to put his full attention to Amy.  
"No more, no more. Just make it stop, make it stop."  
"Amy, it's alright; it's me, Sonic. Everything is going to be alright now." Though Sonic couldn't see it, Amy was shaking her head violently left and right.  
"Nothings alright, nothing will ever be alright; just make him stop!"  
"What are you talking about? It's over, we're safe now. We just need to find the light switch and then everything will be alright." Amy's hysteria started to subside, but she was still breathing fast and making incoherent statements.  
"Guys!? Is anyone there?" another voice echoed behind them.  
"Chris!?" Sonic and Knuckles yelled out in unison.  
"Holy crap, finally!" Chris replied, relieved," I got Cream and her Chao with me; I think we're in the hanger but I'm not too sure. I think I also heard Chaotix screaming somewhere in the engine room, but screw that; wasn't going to go in there alone."  
"We'll be right there, just hold on."  
"So," Knuckles began to comment," we have the chaotix team, Chris, Cream, you, me, and Amy. All we need to do now is find Tails."  
"What about Cosmo," Sonic inquired.  
"Sonic, Cosmos dead," Kuckles reminded him. Save for Sonic who's face showed shock until he came to remember he was what hit Cosmo. He lowered his face in shame," Oh, right." It took them a while navigating through the hall until they finally entered the hanger. "Chris, you in here?" Knuckles yelled in the room.  
"Son of a-, we're right here," Chris turned on his torch and flashed it at the other three, making them flinch from the brightness of it," Almost made us jump out of the ship like escape pods from fright-"  
"Can you flash that thing on the floor, there hasn't been the brightest lights flashing in the ship today you know."  
"Sorry about that. Anyways-"  
"Cream, is that you?" Amy called out, exasperated.  
"Amy?"  
"I thought you were dead!" Amy ran to where she thought the voice was. She was able to see Cream's feet and grabbed her, throwing her up in the air with joy. Amy caught her as she came down and they both locked each other in a tight embrace.  
"I thought you were too," Cream cried out; they both cried on each other's shoulders.  
"Anyways, did we lose all the power to the ship? I'm not sure how long but I'm pretty sure it's been more than a day without lights."  
"I don't think so; I can still feel the engines going." Chris started to talk technical, trying to come up with an explanation of what happened to the ship but Knuckles got lost somewhere in the beginning. Sonic drifted off and tried to make out the surroundings from the light the flashlight provided. He looked back at Chris, giving up on trying to see around the room. Three red dots hovering behind Chris' shoulder caught his eye.  
"What the hell is that!?" Sonic exclaimed as he pointed towards the lights, trying not to keep his eyes away from it. But Chris did not know where Sonic was pointing at, so he flashed the light at Sonic to see the direction he was pointing. Sonic flinched at the sudden blast of light and took his eyes off the red lights. Chris was able to see where Sonic was pointing at before he flinched and turned the light behind him. Nothing.  
"C'mon Sonic, right now is not the time to be playing games," Chris said, releasing the breathe he was holding in.  
"No, I saw red lights behind you," Sonic defended," I swear, I saw three lights behind you!"  
"Must've been your imagination then, there's nothing there," Knuckles jabbed in.  
"Let's just go try to find the cha-"  
"It was him, I could feel it," Amy's voice sent chills down everyone's back.  
"Who?"  
"I don't know who, but it's whatever started this. I can feel him, like how I felt him glaring at me i  
my dream…" Amy stated to hyperventilate again.  
"Amy," Sonic shook her hard by the shoulders," snap out of it dammit!"  
She slowly stopped until she was breathing normally again, but giggled when she looked to be back to normal," teehee, sunshine."  
"Yeah, we all need it… wait, that's it! Open the blast doors!" Everyone looked at him confused.  
"Really guys, at least learn the basics. Chris began running to the far side of the hanger, his flashlight bobbing up and down as he did. It wasn't even two yards when he was completely consumed by the darkness.  
"Chris, you still there?" Sonic yelled out. No response. Minutes passed until a large hiss and an alarm deafened the room. Slowly, the black doors began to open and light began to reach in and attack the dark. It had no chance against the light and slowly it was defeated, but not until it screeched away into the deeper halls of the ship. Chris laid half way from the locking pad," Chris!" Sonic and knuckles ran up to Chris, barely conscious when they got to him."  
"Holy shit, that was the longest run I ever had; did you see the bloody thing!? It tried to drag me with it!"  
"Just stay here and rest , Amy and Cream will be right here with you."  
"Fine by me…" and thus, Chris knocked out.  
"So," Knuckles began to have the same old confidence he has when he speaks," all we gotta do is open the curtains and let the light in to defeat this thing? Hah, no biggy!"  
" Do you have any idea on how to open a blast door?" Sonic pointed out.  
Suddenly, Charmy flew into the room like a shot down jet fighter; he scraped against the metal floor until the momentum couldn't take him any further. Right behind him, Vector clumsily ran inside the hanger, a ninja star barely missing his arm. "Oh man, he's gone crazy! What got into him?!" There was no response to his questions; he turned around and saw Charmy wasn't moving on the floor. "Oh no, I'm coming buddy!" Though out of breathe, Vector ran to help his fallen comrade. He kneeled down and tried to see what was wrong. He pulled on of Charmy's arms up, expecting it might drop, but instead jumped from Charmy's pull.  
"Hey you jerk, that hurts." He began to try to sit up right but wasn't able to as he let go of his arm and started to clutch his side instead. "Why the hell do we have a psychotic son of a bitch that can easily over power us both." Vector exaggeratedly shrugged," It sounded like a good idea at the time."  
"How bad is it?"  
"You'll be fine, it's just a scra-"  
"Bullshit, I can see blood dripping off me like a waterfall."  
"Hey! Watch your mouth young man, who taught you how to talk like that anyways."  
"You did, now quit scolding me and HELP ME," Charmy slumped face forward, yelling causing pain on his side."  
"We'll check him," Amy offered. Both Cream and Amy began tending to Charmy's wounds.  
"So, any of you knows what happened?"  
"No clue, just that it's been like this for more than a day," Sonic answered.  
"What happened in there?" Knuckles asked.  
"Me and Charmy woke up together in the hallways. It was completely dark, but Espio luckily showed us the way. He was telling us what happened until we entered the room where Cosmo threw the party, that's when things really started to get crazy!" Vector paused for a moment, shifting uncomfortably as he began to speak again," Espio started telling us that something was watching us. I swear I saw something red zip around the room. Then, Espio just started to laugh; just as fast as it started, he stopped. I could hear the things whizzing by and we heard a scream. We freaked out and we started to run away, Espio started to yell things and I was pretty sure he said something along the lines of killing us. We booked it and saw the light and the rest you know."  
"So, we have a psychotic ninja, who can see in the dark; somewhere in there and all we have to do is open the blast doors?" Sonic summarized the situation," And Tails is still MIA somewhere in there?"  
"Pretty much," Knuckles sighed. "And to think, the only thing we had to do was just find the control panel and press a button."  
"Get out of my head! Gah, make it stop, no!"  
"Well then, it's either bait or he's actually fighting whatever it was that made him do this. Doesn't matter, we're going in!" Sonic zoomed right past Vector and Knuckles. Vector looked at Knuckles and shrugged again," It's not just pressing a button," and he started to walk into the dark corridor.  
Knuckles groaned," Where's that stupid bat when I- we need her."

"Doctor Eggman, they're opening the hanger!" Bokkun alerted his master from his control deck.  
"We're able to pick up scans again, but only from that room. Everything else seems to be jammed, eight life for… seven l- six, five life forms are detected. Three just went into the jamming area."  
"Rouge, go into their hanger and check what's going on; something isn't right about this."  
"How are you expecting me to get there? Shooting me in?"  
"As long as you stay attached to the ships, you'll be fine, plus, don't you have those fancy gloves GUN provided for you?"  
"Just for the record, I'm doing this for my Knucky, not you."

"I'm working as fast as I can!" Vector shouted as he was dodging ninja stars," Keep him off me and maybe I'll be able to do this faster!"  
"Not gonna happen, this guys is too determined, his aim is way off though."  
"I don't think these tables will hold off at a barricade for long…"  
Again, the room filled with the noise of the alarm and a red light started to flash. Espio was appearing all over the place, from one side of the room to the other between flashes of the light. "Tackle him!"  
Sonic and Knuckles both dove for Espio. He reacted too fast and jumped to his side. Vector took the chance and swung his tail to sweep Espio off his feet. Again he was able to dodge but wasn't able to duck in time for the next blow. Knuckles had hit Espio from one side while Vector also took a swing at him from the opposite direction. They backed away from the recoil of the force and Espio dropped to the floor. Before he could get up, Sonic homed in on Espio with a spin dash and knocked him to the opening blast door. Immediately, he began to scream and cover his eyes as the blast door opened more and more and he was exposed to the sunlight. Again, the darkness screeched as it retreated back into the hallways. "You alright buddy?" Vector asked Espio from across the room.  
"Oh yeah, sure. It's not like I got crushed from a two way bulldozer," he yelled out sarcastically.  
"That might be the sweetest thing you have ever said to me," Vector called out, faking swiping a tear off his eye.

"I better get a kiss from that hothead if I'm doing this for him." Rouge kept crawling towards the hanger's opening. "Or better yet, a piece of that lovely Master Emerald."  
"Should we tell her yet?"  
"Nah, it's going to be good when she finds out."  
"You're going to be in big trouble after this one Doctor Eggman."  
"Hohohoho, anything to relieve this forsaken tension."  
Rouge finally made it to the hanger opening, except it wasn't open.  
"You fucking bastards, you made me crawl all the way to this stupid hanger just to find out the fucking thing wasn't open!" Eggman's bridge filled with laughter from the four of them.  
"We were going to tell you sooner, but…"  
"We thought this would be funnier."  
Rouge started to grind her teeth from being pranked but took a deep breath and best thought to hold it in. She looked inside and saw the surviving ships. She then spotted Amy and Cream kneeling next to Charmy while Chris was also lying on the floor. "Huston, we got a problem,"  
"What is it?"  
Rouge knocked hard on the transparent door to try to get their attention. "Apart from me kicking your ass in a bit, it looks like everything is..." Suddenly, the blast doors started to close on their own. Amy and Cream looked up in horror as it started to slowly fall down. Amy ran to the console and tried to open it but no luck. She then spotted Rouge looking through the door. She began to bang on it, she yelled as loudly as she could but Rouge couldn't hear her. The blast door was almost completely shut, but not before Rouge read her lips and saw as she was being dragged into the darkness by unseen hands.  
"Get us out…"


	3. Spoiler: Reunited

"Commander, we can't get visuals on that planet; signals are being lost when we send out satellites."  
"Send in a scouting team, I'm taking point on this reconnaissance."  
"Sir, if you go and anything happens, we might be in disarray."  
"Put Ryan as my replace-"  
"Make that Travis, you really think I'm letting you go that easily?" Ryan said over his side of the radio.  
"Colonel Ryan, please reserve this channel only for official business and orders, do not add any other comments other than what is necessary."  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah; quit having that antenna up your ass and give me a break, Tails, let's go."

"It is an honor having you in our mission today sir," the leader of recon group Oscar saluted to Tails. Tails saluted back and walked over to his X-Tornado. He left the rest of the greetings for Ryan, hearing jabs throughout the conversation. _Greengate, you look beautiful as always_. Tails walked with the flower in his hand and set it on the dashboard, a small gravity well had been installed for her specifically. He started to check his systems and engines, _everything looks fine._  
"On your go Commander Prower," Oscar's leader said over the comms.  
"Just so you know, I'm Tails wingman, no one else," Ryan chimed in.  
"Oscar-1, ready." "Oscar-2, clear." "Oscar-3, ready." "Taco Supreme, ready for crunch."  
Tails chuckled," Alright, let's go; open doors, Command."  
The blast shield opened and a thin shield appeared, they flew past it with ease. "Formation V until I say we're clear to scatter."  
"Yes sir." "Roger that." "Got it." "Aye, aye."  
"Commander, this is Blue Typhoon, we're picking up some strange signals coming ten kilometers from your current location, marking the area for you on your map."  
"Travis, is that you! Man, how's it been-" Tails turned off his radio and continued forward towards the marked area.  
"Cosmo… if you're out there, give me a sign," Tails took out a picture from the wedge on top of the dashboard. He stared at it, distant memories of a time that seemed so long ago flashed through his head. He looked once more to the flower on his dashboard and slid a finger on its pedals. "A sign, any sign." Suddenly, he saw a red flash fly past him. He put his picture in his back pocket and quickly turned on the radio, complete chaos flooded his once isolated cockpit.  
"Oscar-2, Oscar-2, calm-" "we're taking heavy fire!" "Commander, you're too close to the planet!"  
"Permission to scatter!" "I'm hit, I'm being pull-!"  
Oscar-3, Ryan, and Tails were flying into a barrage of laser shots. Tails ordered to take evasive maneuvers and to try to escape the barrage. Oscar-3 spun and pulled up, trying to make a complete retreat. Ryan followed Tails into the barrage, trying to get out of the turret's gun rotation. Oscar-3's craft was shot and was critically damaged but he was still able to have enough power to try to fly away.  
"Tails, I'm not gonna last much longer…"  
"Don't say that," Tails cringed as the Gs from the turns were starting to affect him," Just keep this up and we'll be-" three dish looking turrets started to power up, one after the other they shot towards him. He barrel rolled away from the first two shots but before he became reoriented from the spin, the third had struck his nose. He began falling towards the planet as lasers began to target at Tails again. One was able to strike his engine, sending sparks and smoke as he began spiraling down into the planet.  
Tails pulled on the stick, desperately trying to regain control. The ship didn't respond and all the monitors of his ship flashed on and off. As a last ditch, he tried one last hard pull, clenching his teeth and eyes to try to stay conscious. "COS-M-O" he groaned out.  
"Tails…"  
"C-Cosmo!" Tails opened his eyes, widen as he saw the sight. She was beautiful," you look absolutely magnificent…"  
"I've waited here for you, for so long," Tails looked at her with an expression of shock and confusion. "Tonight, you'll join together the other half.." Without Tails noticing, he had been slowly pacing towards her. She was so close, he reached out with one hand but she started to float away. She whisked away into a dense forest, dark from the thick rain clouds floating overhead. He was eventually also surrounded by the same forest, a force pushing him into it without him taking a step.  
"Wait, no, Cosmo, I want more time! Come back, please!" his face started to fill with tears.  
"Tails, wake up!"  
Tails eyes shot wide open. Everything in front of him was cloud, A few moments later, the cloud layer was passed and he saw three other ships, two ahead and one beside him but beginning to fall behind. One of their engines started to glow red hot and shattered. The cyclone spun out of control and collided with the other. They exploded in a beautiful blue and purple as debris scattered in the air. Tails' ship still wasn't able to respond and flew right into the remains. The cockpit began to crack, but the plane's alarm came to life and he was able to regain control of the ship. Ahead, a giant piece of hull was about to collide with him. He took his chances and tried to fly under it. It smacked the glass and shattered in Tails' face. He was trying to get as much of it off when he saw Cosmo's flower fly out. He tried to reach for it, but it was gone with a chunk of debris that had hit it. He quickly sent his hand to the oxygen mask and put it on. "Mayday, mayday; this is Commander Prower, can anyone read, over!?" The radio buzzed with static for a few seconds until it crackled to life.  
"Commander, I can't control this thing!" They passed through a second coating of clouds and now the ground was visible, it was a lot closer than Tails had anticipated it.  
"Pull up! Pull up!" Once again, Tails gritted his teeth and pulled the stick as close to him as possible. As he did so, he heard his engine whining and afterward a stronger sound that whizzed by but disappeared as soon as he heard it. The plane wouldn't budge, it was still heading nose first into the ground. He held it close to him, and soon the knot in his stomach tightened and felt as though he was going to flood the cockpit with bile. The plane pulled up just in time, but the fin became an anchor and the plane began to skid on the ground. The engine finally gave out and momentum flipped the plane many times until it came to a halt. Tails winced open his eyes, up ahead was a forest, any further and the crash could have gone a lot worse than it had. He blinked, struggling to reopen his eyes. His body ached, his muscles tender from the crash. "I'll-… I'll rest, maybe…"  
"Tails… the forest…"  
Tails began to unbuckle himself from the safety harness, still with eyes closed. Sluggishly, he tried to come out of the craft but he lost his grip and fell back into the seat. Flinching, he tried to use the same momentum to pull himself out. He jumped over and landed on his feet. A few steps later, he lost strength and fell back. "At this rate, I'm never going to get anywhere…" he thought to himself. Tails looked farther back and noticed the wreck of Oscar-3. Limping, he tried his best to try to reach his fallen ally as fast as he could. Once there, the feeling he had been flooded with so many times before washed over him. There he was, still alive, but the poor bastard's nose had hit the ground enough for the first half to be compressed. Half his body was stuck underneath the wreck, probably crushed and beyond healing. "Commander… I fucked up" Tails couldn't do it; he didn't want him to suffer any longer. He pulled out his pistol and aimed it at his comrade's head. He smiled at Tails; he knew what was coming and seemed to accept it. "It was a pleasure fighting for you… dad."

Tails stood at the edge of the forest, though not really seen at first, there was a trail that led into the forest. "I'm coming Cosmo." The winds felt lightly for Tails, the trees acting as shields from the upcoming storm. The air felt fresh, natural; all but the leaves of trees and the sweeping brush sounded in the forest. Protecting, calm, gentle, quiet… just like you Cosmo… he let out a small chuckle at the thought. "It actually kind of feels like I'm talking to you again… are you really here, out there somewhere?"  
"Tails!"  
"Cosmo!?"  
"Sorry but no, try again." Tails looked up and saw as small parachute floating down towards him. It passed the tree line, but got in some low branches. "Well, this is great." Tails chuckled at Ryan's struggle to try to get his parachute unhooked. After a few moments, he dropped down next to Tails," what's the plan this time boss?"  
"We follow the path, there's some infrastructure in this world somewhere."  
"You've been here before or something?"  
"Not far from this planet, she sacrificed herself."  
"Oh, I'm-"  
"And this is the planet she was born in… at least her family was. She came from this planet, and unfortunately so did the meterex." Tails didn't meet Ryan's gaze, only walking forward and keeping his eyes on what's ahead. "We were able to let her see her home world before she did what she did, but it was all dead when we got here. Never thought it was this beautiful…  
"Just like her?"  
"No, she held much greater beauty"  
Ryan let out a loud sight," Remind me to set up a memorial, yeah?"  
"Just keep walking." And so they did, they kept following the path in complete silence. Tails looked around for any buildings or openings that might show Cosmo's civilization's location. Nothing, and as they walked on, the little light that could get past the forest's tree began to dimmer.  
"Tails, I think I hear something," he readied his rifle to the direction of the sound.  
"It's probably just the trees, I haven't heard anything."  
"I don't know… it might be whatever shot us down; they've showed that they're not too friendly."  
"I don't have time for this; you always have a bad feeling about-"  
"Shh, listen…" Tails glared at Ryan, but nonetheless didn't let a single peep out of his mouth. Seconds passed by as he became angrier at Ryan until a rustle in the bushes sounded where Ryan had pointed out. It rustled off rhythm from all the other plants, there was something certainly there.  
"Just give me the order to shoot." Tails laid his hand on top of the gun, bringing Ryan's aim down," Let's not get too ahead of ourselves," he began to walk towards their suspicions," Who knows who it could be…"  
"I'm pretty sure what it can be," Ryan aimed his rifle again at the rustling bush. Tails began to sweat, _what the hell am I doing, I should have just shot the fucking thing!,_ Tails began to regret. _Just a few steps, oh please don't be a black arms, you're too small to be one…_  
He was now right next to it, he bended to see over it and there she was. Holding a strange weapon, she had her face on the ground; she quickly realized that the foxes had stopped making noise. She looked up quickly and was met face to face with Tails. Tails too was surprised at the Cosmo looking girl, could she be seedrian…? She leapt to her feet and raised her weapon, a snub nosed handgun with a wide barrel, almost like a one handed grenade launcher. He quickly began to raise his arms," I don't have anything, I won't hurt you.!"  
"Put the gun down!" Ryan screamed at the seedrian. She now pointed her gun at Ryan," Put the gun down!"  
The yelling went back and forth, Tails cutting in trying to also disarm the seedrian; both of them would not budge. Heavy footsteps were tromping their way, but the screaming was still going on to notice. It wasn't after a small break between the shouting that they managed to hear the noise. Ryan didn't know what to do; he only gave small glances towards the approaching footsteps while still pointing at the seedrian. She, on the other hand, had completely forgotten about them and was looking focused at the direction of the noise. Suddenly, her face showed terror and panic," Oh no, please no…"  
Three male seedrians dropped in from the trees, two had the same weapon as the female seedrian while the other had a longer looking version of it. Patunia, are you okay!?" he asked, unnoticing the foxes. He soon realized them and all three started to point their weapons at Ryan.  
"Stay back, all of you, stay back!" Ryan hopelessly cried as he was made to be cornered at a tree.  
"Brother, not now! They're coming!"  
"What? From whe-"They grew louder and louder, something big was coming with a lot of company.  
"Just answer me this, are you Black Arms!?" one of the male seedrians shouted to them."  
"What the hell, no! Do I look like a Black Arms!?"  
All three of them looked at each other, they were thinking something fast, but whatever they were wanting to do was interrupted, the beast had come. A black arms soldier, double the size of a regular had stepped into their encounter. "Holy shit, Tails, run!" Ryan started to shoot his automatic rifle into semi fire. Tails began to run towards Ryan's direction while taking out his revolver but was launched into the air by an explosion. He looked around, his ears buzzed and felt disorientated, _where am I?  
_ "Tails!"  
"Cosmo! Where are you!"  
"Tails!"  
"Tell me where you are!"  
"Tails!" Ryan yelled roughly. "Get up you fucking moron, that thing brought company!"  
A squad of black arms started to move up, the bigger one not holding a weapon, slowly walking with his fists ready. Tails struggled to start running, falling over as he tried to get up but caught his balance and run once he was back on his feet. Ryan let out a small burst of fire and began to run behind the small seedrian force. Ryan once again turned around, crouched, loaded a grenade into the attachable and waited. At the first sight of a Black Arms soldiers, he gave out a shot that made it step back, delaying the other forces as well and began running. "Tails, I don't have enough ammo to take that thing down! What do we do!?"  
"Just keep running, follow me!" Ryan did so, and Tails followed the seedrians. To know that they were afraid of Black Arms assured him that they might be friendly, they might also be fighting said faction. Soon enough, they were at their stronghold. Old city ruins, plant life grew from anywhere it could, it would do. "Ryan…" he turned around, but wasn't there. A few bursts of gunfire sounded a close distance away and Ryan ran up to Tails, a little distraught.  
"Really?"  
"Find a building, good visuals; give me your radio, I'll try to up the signal; we still have a chance!"  
Ryan tossed the radio as he ran to inspect the most intact looking building he could find. He knocked open the door, trying his best to one man breech it. The house had two straight hallway, at the end of it seemed to be a kitchen with a table in the middle of it while the other smaller one led to some stairs. Tails rushed past him and got to work on the radio on the table. "Perfect spot for a last stand, huh?"  
Tails looked up from his work to glare at Ryan," Not today, I can't die today…"  
Ryan nodded; this would not be his day either. Footsteps stomped nearby, Black Arms was getting close and fast. "Anytime now, with the radio?"  
"Still working on-" banging came from the door they came from. Ryan switched off his safety and turned it to semiautomatic. The banging got louder and louder, was the door jammed?  
"Tails, run up stairs!" Ryan began to run towards the banging door and headed into the other hallway, stairs not too far from the corner. As Tails reached the corner, the door burst open from the kitchen as laser shots danced around the hallway. The shots settled, the front door burst open and more Black Arms swarmed the room. A few grunts between them as they searched the home, a small group starting to head upstairs. Meanwhile, Ryan and Tails were trying to find a way out. It seemed that they were going to have to throw themselves out the window. Tails adjusted himself to better fix the radio while moving, Ryan had a running start, boosted by his tails, and flew out the window. He hovered just outside the window, waiting for Tails to follow him out, nothing. He hovered over to see through, he was hiding behind a flipped table, Black Arms were checking the room. Ryan got closer, exposing his whole body and fired a burst into the room. They scattered and took cover, Tails took the chance to run. A few flashes started to fly their way, Ryan tried his best to suppress them, but it wasn't enough. A shot flew straight into Tails, he stumbled and fell out the window. Ryan held his spot, hovering just outside the window. He turned automatic and shot his entire magazine into the window and quickly flew down to help Tails. "Tails, get up!" Tails' head shot up," Damn those lasers burn…"  
" You're hit?"  
"No, but the radios fried..." The soldiers inside the house started to recollect themselves, heading out the window and doors. Ryan reloaded and helped Tails to his feet. As they ran, Ryan started to occasionally take a few shots behind them to try to slow them down. They ran and ran, at one point leaving the trail and into the thick brush in hopes of hiding. Both ducked as they heard their enemy's stomping nearby. They stopped, no sound but the wind and trees could be heard. A small pop broke the silence, a grunt falling a few feet away from Tails. A few more seconds of confusions, then the grunts started to fire every direction. Blasts and pops deafened both foxes, caught in the middle of the crossfire without any cover in sight. Tails nodded to Ryan, he returned the gesture; popping out of the brush, guns blazing at whatever remained of the grunts. The noise abruptly stopped.  
"So gents, follow me…"

"How's the battle looking?"  
"Not too good, but not too bad. The new Cyclones are too slow to evade or protect themselves; our fighters are winning, shields holding…"  
"Your men are remarkable," a male seedrian commented, looking through a second telescope.  
"True that… Quarkos, you said you were seedrian?"  
"Yes, indeed, why do you ask?"  
"Tails, wasn't your heart seedrian?"  
Quarkos looked at Ryan quizzically, then turning to Tails for an answer.  
"Commander," Tails began, standing straighter and lifting his head high," I was the Captain of the VSF Blue Typhoon, a girl named Cosmo was the one who summoned my friend, Sonic, to fight the Meterex. She was the only one who survived her ship; her mother Earthia was regrettably lost that day. She was the one who sacrificed herself to end the Meterex. And ever since I've met her, she is the only one I have held so dearly to my heart."  
"Earthia… yes, I remember that name. It feels like a time so long ago… I am sorry to hear about your loss as well.  
The night sky had planted itself, leaving nothing but darkness in its wake. Tails and Ryan had agreed to follow the seedrian back to his quarters, with hesitation from both sides. The village-turned-fort was a modest size, holding a few residential buildings for them to sleep in. Tails and the seedrians' Commander, Querkos, had shared each other's stories amongst each other. The foxes had learned that after the Metrex had been beaten, Black Arms had begun to swarm once more from planet to planet, for conquest. The seedrians didn't have any time nor will to leave their planet, but after resources and information of the outside became scarce, some wanted out. A single ship blasted into space, in hopes of finding more of their species or other civilizations to trade with. Civilian fitted, it stood no chance against a Black Arms Frigate. The explosion, witnessed by all in the planet, had become an example; they were stuck in their planet. Unfortunately for them, Black Arms did not know that seedrians had survived Meterex War and had begun to hunt their specie, in fear of another Metrex war. The arrival of Tails and his fleet had become a beacon of hope for Querkos's people. "Now that you're here, we might just have a chance to push out these beasts out of our planet!"  
"I will be happy to help. Your people have gone through enough."  
"Aye…" Quarkos looked up into the starry sky, the flashes of explosions and tracers interrupted the beauty of the winking constellations," but haven't we all?"


End file.
